Kerry: Ganje, a remote village in Ponda taluka, tells the story of a bygone-day port that was widely used to transport goods to the ghats. Ganje, which was earlier part of Sattari taluka, is now under Usgao panchayat.Shantadurga and Ganjeshwari are the presiding deities of Ganje. In Guleli panchayat, there is a village called Melaulim, made up of five hamlets — Shel, Dhada, Paikul, Murmune and Maigini, inhabited by tribals and non-tribal agro-horticultural population. The agro-horticultural Melekar community plays an important role in the village’s socio-cultural activities.“Earlier, the Khot people living in Golaulim originally lived in Melaulim. Villagers from Ganje settled there later. Along with the goddess Sateri, the village also worships Ganjeshwari, shown in a standing posture,” said Umesh Melekar from Shel-Melaulim.During the pre-Portuguese period, Ganje port linked the hinterland through the Mhadei river. After liberation, with improved road connectivity, the port was used less, said Amey Kinjawadekar, an archeology student. The Mhadei river, which originates in Degao, Karnataka, enters Goa in Cadwal, Sattari. The river is known as the Mhadei till Ganje, and when it crosses Ganje and enters Usgao, it becomes popularly known as Mandovi.Historian and archaeologist Vithal Mitragotri discovered three stone sculptures of Mahishasurmardini shown in a boat. Mitragothri, in his book Socio-cultural history of Goa (1999), mentions that no such images of Mahishasurmardini depicted in a boat had been published from any other part of India in terracotta, painting, bronze or stone. Therefore, these sculptures are considered unique in Indian art history.
